A Hero Through and Through
by Mistytail
Summary: And this is why Hurley walked so slowly through the jungle at this moment; his friends might be in danger, and he could do nothing to help. Hiro, unknowingly, shows him that he can do something.


**Author's Note: This is my first real attempt at writing fan-fiction for any television show, and I would appreciate a lot of feedback, especially concerning my writing style. Do you like it? What does it need? What could make it better? Ect.**

**Spoilers possible through the season three finale of Lost and the pilot of Heroes. You have been warned…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or Lost. If I did, you would have seen a lot of awesome Heroes guest appearances. Like, maybe Nathan. Or Claire, Hiro, Daphne, maybe Matt… wait, Matt was the pilot? Of Flight 815? Who randomly died in the Pilot? And he didn't even get to use his powers? How lame is that.**

"_Every hero must learn his purpose. Then he'll be tested and called to greatness._"

- Hiro (From Genesis)

* * *

Hurley slowly walked through the jungle, his head turned towards the ground. He took another step and let out a sigh, his aura was one of complete disappointment. Right now, he felt just about completely useless in every way. That was twice he had been turned down today. Twice. Charlie hadn't wanted him along at first, and that he understood, but now he had just been turned away again simply to see if his friends were alright. And this is why Hurley walked so slowly through the jungle at this moment; his friends might be in danger, and he could do nothing to help.

_"Just look at you!"_

But the absolute worst part of this all was that he felt they might be right in their decision about leaving him behind. In the end, he would probably just get in the way, right?

Right?

He took a glance at the sky, just for a second, and almost smiled as he slowly paced through the jungle. One thing Hugo Reyes could not do was stay upset for long. It was just part of him. There was always something to look at positively. Like, for instance, Charlie would unblock the signal blocker, and they would finally get off this deserted island, and then-

He froze midstride as he spotted two men ahead in the trees, one lying in a weird position either snoozing or unconscious, the other sitting on his knees beside him. Both looked somewhere in their 30s, definitely from a foreign country. And they had just appeared not twenty feet away from Hurley. He shakily started to lower his foot to the ground, trying to go unnoticed. He could not possibly be seeing another apparition in the jungle at this moment. He just needed to get back to his friends right now. Practically everyone had seen at least one person (Or in some cases, animal) cryptically wandering about through the trees before disappearing. And, in some cases, it hadn't lead to anything good. At all. The last time he had seen someone in the tangle of the jungle, well… he didn't want to think about that right now.

But something was different this time. Unlike before, Hurley had been the first to notice the two men in the jungle, and they had yet to become aware of him. The bigger matter was that he was pretty sure that he had never encountered either of these men before. Ever. Weren't the illusions supposed to be fragments of your memories? That was what they had all been before, and they had all had a purpose-

At that moment, while still distracted by his thoughts, he brought his foot down a tad too hard on the ground that contained many crunchy leaves and breakable twigs, and there was no way to avoid producing a sound. A surprisingly loud _CRUNCH_ came out of this, making the man sitting down turn around, suddenly very surprised. But then that was gone, and his face now showed a look of something close to concern. "Come here!" the man said, beckoning him over. Hurley, meanwhile, just stood watching, frozen like a statue, holding his breath, hoping he could just disappear.

"Uh…"

That was all he could muster to say.

But then the short man was calling him over again, and Hurley finally noticed the worry he worry he was showing towards his friend, so he slowly made his way over to them. "Um…" was all he could think to say as he got close, and he was about to say just that, but he was shortly interrupted by a question.

"Do you have any water?"

"Uh-"

"Water? My friend needs water. Do you have any?"

This snapped Hurley back into focus, although he was still a more than a little confused. "Oh, yeah… um, water… I have some… right here…," he mumbled as he pulled the heavy pack over the edge of his shoulder and allowed it to drop to the ground before beginning to rummage through it. Part of him still wished to flee into the jungle, currently unsure about these two, until another thought emerged into light. What if these people were lost, stuck on this island, just as they were? What if his friend really needed help? Or what if they were actually Othe-

Hurley pushed that thought away for the time being, this person needed help, which he was able to provide. He was finally doing something useful for a change.

Having finally found one of his Oceanic water bottles under all the other stuff he carried around, Hurley handed it to the man, who quickly unscrewed the cap off of the bottle and set it carefully on the ground, as if not to lose it. He then propped his companion up and offered him a drink, but it appeared that whoever it was was still out cold. They hopelessly sat for a few seconds until they noticed his head had moved slightly, exciting his very much awake friend, who began to talk to him.

"Hiro. Hiro? Can you hear me?" The mysterious man said loudly, shaking him slightly, before beginning to talk to him in a foreign language unknown to Hurley. He just sat back and shrugged, more confused than ever. What had he called his friend? Hero? At that moment, 'Hero' started to mumble something, most likely not in English, and his friend finally sat back relieved on the hard jungle floor.

"Thank you for helping my friend. This is Hiro, and I am Ando."

"Uh, no problem dude, but… why are you calling him Hero? Is he a hero or something?" A confused Hurley asked.

Ando laughed. "No, Hiro is his name, spelt H-I-R-O… although he is quite the hero, no doubt."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Always talking about the right thing to do and being a hero and stuff like that. But he is really a great friend." He smiled. "Thank you again for coming to help him. Not everyone would do that, you know." Inside, Hurley felt good. Finally, he had done something useful, important, for someone.

"What is your name?"

"Um, dude, just call me Hurley," he responded. Ando glanced at him quizzically, but then turned his attention back to Hiro on the ground. They sat quietly for a few seconds before Hurley finally decided now would be a good time to ask the question that had been bothering him.

"But… dude, how in the world did you get out here in the middle of the jungle?"

This question seemed to startle him. "Oh, is that where we are?" He said, seemingly noticing his strange surroundings for the first time. He just shrugged. "Who are you? Do you live here?"

"Oh no, well, I we do kind of live here, but it's not like we own this island or anything, we just got stuck here-"  
"So you are… lost?"  
"Yeah. Dude, we were, like, in a plane crash back in September."

"Oh Hiro… you have to wake up right now…" he seemed unconcerned by the fact that he had just meet a plane crash survivor, but then again, Hurley noted, he was smack in the middle of a the Pacific. It wasn't unlikely that he had crashed here in some sort of vehicle. Maybe a boat? A plane? A UFO? It didn't really matter right now, though. They had met so many people and seen so many crazy places here in the past few months; it was starting to feel crowded for a deserted island. Hurley started to speak up to mention that bit of irony and lift the mood before deciding right now was probably not the best time.

Ando glanced anxiously at Hurley's water bottle. It had been almost empty when first pulled out (Hurley had drank a lot of water hiking all the way through the jungle with the group, running after Sawyer, and then hiking back _again_), and now it was completely drained. His other two back-up water bottles were also both lacking of water at the moment. "Do you have any other water?" Ando asked hopefully, probably even hoping another person would accidentally run into them carrying a bucket of water. Hurley sensed a deep friendship between these two odd men, something that likely said they had been friends through a long time and through many conflicts. He himself could connect to this; since crashing on the island, he had gained more friends than he had ever had before.

But now was definitely not a good time to think about his friends, as those thoughts soon lead to what trouble the people who stayed behind could be in, or how many different ways Charlie could have died, or what the Others would do to them if they got caught…

"Charlie… must save Charlie…" Hiro began to mumble.  
Hurley slowed his thoughts and just stared at him. Did he just say 'Charlie'? What did he know about Charlie? What in the world was going on?

Ando shook Hiro again, smiling as he began to come around. "He is waking up!" They both sat back for a second, resting. Ando asked Hurley if there was any more water nearby, and after mentally bringing up what he knew about the island in his head, Hurley gave directions to what he knew to be a small, trickling stream, around two hundred yards away. It wasn't that good for much else other than refilling water bottles, and being quite farther from the beach than the caves, wasn't used that often unless you happened upon it during a trek through the jungle. But for this situation, it would be fine, and Hurley was secretly proud of how much he knew about the island, despite only being here for around three months. The man took off, grabbing a water bottle as he went, and ran up the hill into the trees.

Not sure what else to do now for Hiro, Hurley shrugged and sat down in a more comfortable position to wait. He started to think about what to do next. His aura, which just a minute ago had been sad and lost, was now much more cheerful. Soon enough Hiro would awake, and maybe the three of them could walk together to the radio tower and wait to get rescued. Rescue. It seems to be so close, but yet it is still so far away…

Just before he had drifted to start dreaming about rescue, he noticed Hiro's eyes had slightly opened. "Dude! Dude, wake up!" Hurley shook him.

"Uhhhhh…hh..uhhhh…" he blinked eyes, still half out. "Whhhat is it?"

He blinked again, and for the first time, spotted Hurley next to him.

"… what… happened?..."

"Dude, you like, blacked out in the middle of the jungle. Your friend went for water. Should be back soon."

Hiro closed his eyes again.

Hurley thought quickly, thinking of a question to ask to keep him awake. "So, uh, dude… did you say something about a Charlie?"

"Charlie... save…" he said faintly.

"Yeah, what else?"

"I … have to save… her…"

Hurley could be described as more than slightly relieved at his words. As crazy as he was, he had actually thought that somehow Hiro, a complete stranger, could know what was going on here, could know that Charlie was in danger. Turns out that Hiro's Charlie was a 'she'.

Hurley sifted through his pack, looking for something to eat once the man was fully awake, since it seemed like the polite thing to do. Hiro, however, was starting to drift off again. He looked tired, really tired, like he had been sick recently. His face was unhealthily pale. Jack should probably take a look at him when they meet up with the main group.

"Sooo… what are you doing out here? Like, in the middle of the jungle?"

He didn't bother to open his eyes, but he spoke with a somewhat louder and slightly clearer voice, which was a vast improvement compared to his previous mumbling.

"We are on a mission."

"To do what?"

"To save… Charlie… cheerleader… and the world."

Examining Hiro closely, Hurley wondered how that was even possible. He was talking about saving the world, after all. He thought about what Ando had mentioned earlier about Hiro, ironically, being a hero. Just then, glancing up, he saw Ando sprinting back down the hill as fast as he could, stumbling now and then. At one point he wasn't paying attention and tripped over a small bush, doing nearly a full summersault before coming to a stop. Wasting only a few seconds, he got up again, brushed himself off, and took off.

"Hey, look," Hurley said happily, "your friend's coming back!"

Hiro's eyes slowly open up. "Ando…?"

"Yeah, Ando! Dude, he's back!" Hurley smiled.

Ando practically tumbled into them as tried to slow down from the speed from running down the hill. He had a genuine smile on his face as he realized that Hiro's eyes had opened up.

"Hiro? Hiro?" Ando spoke loudly, water momentarily forgotten.

"Ando…" Hiro even managed to smile weakly. Maybe he was finally coming to full awareness?

"Hiro! You're awake!" Ando said happily. "Come on, let me help you up."

"Ando…" Hiro did manage to prop himself up on his elbow. He then finally seemed to notice their surroundings, and the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere. His eyes widened.

"Ando, we…" Hiro frowned.  
Ando was troubled by what he was talking about. "What is it, Hiro?"

Hurley, meanwhile, just sat and watched, confusion easy to see on his features.

"We… we must continue on our mission…" He started to raise his hand toward Ando.

Ando was momentarily confused, but as Hiro raised his hand, everything clicked into place for him.

"No Hiro wait!-" He attempted to step back and move out of the way, but Hiro had already lifted his hand up and rested it on his friend's leg. He quickly closed his eyes and squinted, and before anyone could say a single word more, both of them had disappeared into thin air.

Hurley was left sitting in the middle of the jungle completely alone.

He blinked once, and then again, and then again. Both of them had just disappeared. Right in front of him. Poof. Just as everything had been starting to look up…

Neither of them had ever really been real, just more illusions in the jungle of mystery. He had thought they were both real, had been entirely and in every way convinced. In fact, he was just starting to become friends with them. But in the end, neither ever existed. After disappearing in front of his own eyes, there was no other explanation.

More than anything, he was disappointed. What was he supposed to do now? He was going to head back to the group and help these two get rescued. Help them, whoever they were, get home, to whatever life they had. Not anymore, though…

Something about the two still seemed off. They both were so different from other appearances in the jungle. Ando, who had left him to watch over his friend to go get water. And then there was Hiro, talking about saving the world. What had that been about?...

_"Oh yes. Always talking about the right thing to do and being a hero and stuff like that. But he is really a great friend."_

Hurley finally understood. Why these two seemed different, why he had quickly liked Hiro. Hiro was like a hero, trying to save the world. And while Hurley wasn't sure if he could save the world, he wanted to help out his friends more than anything, the same way Hiro did. He was going to go back and save his friends out in one way or another.

But there wasn't anything he could do to help, was there?  
Right?  
As his eyes drifted over to a small object that had fallen out of his backpack, he noticed that was wrong.

He grabbed that small object in his hand and took off. Not heading back to the main group, though. Not heading straight to the beach either. Hugo Reyes finally understood what he should do, and he had a plan. A plan that it was fair time to put into action. Hurley smiled.

He took off in another direction, heading towards a certain old DHARMA van…

* * *

"_No, I must go after him. I will not abandon my friend!"_

"_Then you have already lost._"

"_Father. My whole life you have looked at me with disappointment. I do not wish to lose you now. But I cannot let my friend die. Not when I have the power to stop it._"

- Hiro (From How To Stop an Exploding Man)

* * *

**Final Note: This wonderful idea came to me after watching the season 3 finale. 3 seasons of Lost and 1 month later, it is finally finished. As Hiro would say... Yatta!**

**I hope you enjoyed this wonderful encounter as much as I did. Now, I just need to start thinking about ideas for my next story...**


End file.
